A Change of Eatery

The Wood-n-Tap recently came out with a new seaside-inspired “Tap Into the Sea” menu with signature summer dishes to make the warm weather even more inviting. Doesn’t hurt that the restaurant (at least the 3 locations I’ve been to) has a wonderful patio area to enhance scrumptious outdoor dining. I haven’t tried any of the new menu items but I’ll highlight a few dishes that made it to the ”must eat” section of my summer list of demands:

• Soft Shell Crab Sandwich: Lightly fried and served on a toasted roll with lettuce, tomatoes and pickled Bermuda onions. Served with a lemon aioli. 12.99
• Chopped Shrimp Waldorf Salad: Chopped greens, celery, crisp apples, candied walnuts & red grapes with poached shrimp tossed in a traditional waldorf dressing. 11.99
• Island Shrimp: Caribbean seasoned skewered shrimp served over a bed of rice with asparagus & drawn butter. 14.99
• Crab Stuffed Filet of Sole: Tender sole filet stuffed with crab, baked in a wine butter, topped with béarnaise sauce. Served with grilled asparagus & rice medley. 16.29

…Not to mention a beautiful summer cocktail selection (rose sangria, blueberry sangria lemonade, clementine crush, cherry cosmo, 7 flavors of hard lemonade, etc).

I’m a fan of the restaurant’s burgers and sliders, but the last few times I’ve been to the Tap, I’ve chosen to order the Cobb Salad instead. As far as I’m concerned, Cobb Salads can either be remarkably delicious or disappointingly mediocre (Like Catsup & Mustard…I’ll stick with burgers there). Wood-n-Tap serves the best California Cobb Salad I’ve ever had. I know- it’s not the hardest concoction to throw together, but good ingredient proportions are a must (for me- that usually means enough bacon).

It’s everything I want to eat in the summer on one plate.

Image from Wood-n-Tap

California Cobb Salad: Fresh greens with red onions, black olives, tomatoes, croutons, avocado, bacon and chopped egg. Topped with jack and cheddar cheese and crispy chicken. And ranch dressing (my choice). 10.99

Also enjoyed the cheesecake during my last visit. Great flavor but I caught the occasional suspicious lump of cream cheese. Oh well, still enjoyable.

The Wood-n-Tap has 5 locations in  Hartford, Southington, Farmington, Rocky Hill and Vernon.

I haven’t really done justice to the restaurant’s extensive menu in this post so I encourage you to check out their website to scope out the variety of burgers, bar bites, apps, pizza, pasta, grilled entrees, gluten free options & more.